Exchange of Realities

There’s only so much power we can get on our own, even as Hands of Darkness. Sometimes, you just have to bargain with something a bit bigger to get that extra punch.

Bargaining with Dark Powers comes naturally to us; after all, isn’t that how many of us got as far as we did, by bargaining with the narrative force of evil? Bear in mind, though, that the kinds of Powers you’re going to be dealing with directly are different. They’re individuals, they’re working toward individual goals rather than a general necessity for there to be people like us, and they’re highly dangerous.

These sorts of entities usually come in two varieties. One subset are the Destroyers—for whatever reason, they have a grudge against the world and all that is in it, and hope to reduce it to nonexistence. I personally recommend avoiding this kind; they may grant more raw power, but even serving them is likely to be very bad for your lifespan as a whole, since if the goals aren’t met, the conduit stops working, or Bad Things Happen, or both. Many people have found themselves working for Destroyers by accident, and found themselves hoping the protagonists would put them out of their misery.

Then you have the Manipulators. These charmers don’t want to destroy the world; it’s so much more fun to play with it! At first sight, they’re considerably safer to work with—the price is low, the power seems pretty easy to use. But they’re clever buggers, fond of slipping in contingencies that you’re sure will never be relevant and wordings that will be turned the one way you didn’t interpret them. And every now and then you’ll have a Destroyer canny enough to be a Manipulator, and what you thought was just a way to grant yourself power will destroy everything.

So how do we keep our inevitable losses to a minimum?

Rule #1: The Elder Evil is older, more powerful, more perceptive, and most importantly more powerful than you. Even if you’ve cross-checked all your details, put together contingencies for everything that could go wrong and a few things that couldn’t, gotten every bit of your lore straight, and trapped it in a binding oath you went over with a fine-tooth comb, it still has a loophole it’s going to use on you. You just haven’t found it yet. Note that this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply contingencies or treat carefully with it, just that you should never get complacent.

Rule #2: You are not the first individual of your kind to attempt to treat with the Elder Evil. What this means is that if you want even half a chance of it looking upon you favorably, you need to figure out what it considers interesting and try to match that. If it’s used to people panicking, be nonchalant; if it’s used to unquestioning obedience, consider a little creative reinterpretation of its conditions. Intrigue it. But remember: Whatever you do, it’s probably seen it before, so don’t count on your own interestingness.

Rule #3: Do your research outside the environs in which you interact with this creature. If you can get multiple sources, with different slants, so much the better—what they agree on is likelier to be true. Note this is likelier, so be on the alert, subtly testing different bits of knowledge to see which ones work and which don’t. This may save your life down the road.

Remember, Elder Evils are a useful tool, but like fire, thunderstorms or hungry sugar gliders, they’re one you need to treat with caution and respect.